C. Calisaya7,316plants,and1030cuttings.C. lancifolia80""28"Species procured by M. Hasskarl939,809""18"Total947,205plants.[109]
Besides 700,264 seeds in stock, or sown. The extreme height attained by the tallestC. Calisayawas, at the same date, fifteen feet, and by the worthless species twenty-eight feet. One of the trees ofC. lancifoliahad also attained a height of fifteen feet.
Dr. de Vry, the eminent chemist who is associated with Dr. Junghuhn, and who had for two years previously occupied himself with the study of the chinchona alkaloids, has been actively engaged in careful investigations of the chinchona barks in Java. With regard to theC. Calisayahis results have been very satisfactory. From the trunk-bark of a plant of this species, six years old, he obtained, in August, 1860, 5 per cent. of alkaloids; and from that of the branches, 2½ per cent. But the specimens ofC. Calisayabark from Java, which have been sent to the Exhibition of 1862, have a very different appearance, and are much thinner than those from South America. This circumstance leads to the inference that the present system of cultivation in Java is erroneous. With the species introduced by M. Hasskarl, Dr. de Vry was not so successful. The leaves, flowers, fruit, and bark of this species were sent to Mr. Howard by Dr. Junghuhn; and it was found that the names ofC. ovata, given it by M. Hasskarl, and ofC. Lucumæfoliaby Dr. Junghuhn, were equally erroneous. It was clear that it was one of the numerous worthless species, not previously described, and Mr. Howard, in the seventh number of his work, has named itC. Pahudiana,[110]after M. Charles F. Pahud, who, as Minister of the Colonies, sent M. Hasskarl to South America in 1852, and who, being appointed Governor-General of Netherlands India in 1855,[111]did so much to ensure the success of the chinchona experiment in Java. Up to 1860 Dr. de Vry had only obtained 0.4 per cent. of alkaloids from the bark ofC. Pahudiana, and Mr. Howard's examination coincides with the analysis of Dr. de Vry in pronouncing it an inferior sort. In 1861, however, he obtained 3 per cent. of alkaloids from the bark of the roots of aC. Pahudianaplant eight years old, and 1¼ per cent. from the trunk-bark. From a tree aged two years and three months he only got 0.09 per cent. from the trunk-bark, and 1.9 per cent. from the root-bark, of which he states the greater part to be quinine; while in the trunk-bark there was not a trace of that alkaloid. This result leads Dr. de Vry to conjecture that the quinine, once formed in the roots, is employed in the growth of the plant, and that, when it attains its full growth, the trunk-bark will also be rich in quinine. If this should not be the case, he hopes that the roots of the young plants may be used profitably for the manufacture of quinine. It is to be feared that the quinine in the trunk-bark will not increase with age, for, while in the younger tree there was 1.9 per cent. of alkaloids in the roots, chiefly quinine, and 0.09 in the trunk-bark, in the older one there was 3 per cent. in the roots, of which 1.8 was quinine, and 1¼ per cent. in the trunk-bark, in which there was only the minutest trace of quinine. Thus, while the quantity of quinine decreased or remained stationary in the roots, the trunk-bark was still destitute of that precious alkaloid.
It is possible that Dr. de Vry, in his earnest desire to discover quinine in a species upon which so much labour and anxiety, and such vast sums of money, had been expended, may have been deceived by appearances. Both from the form of the capsules, the absence of quinine in the upper bark, and the locality whence it was procured, there is every reason to fear that theC. Pahudianais a worthless kind; and the bark of this species, which has been sent to the Exhibition of 1862, is so evidently valueless that no dealer would buy it. In all valuable species there is a good percentage of alkaloids inthe upper bark, and a very much smaller proportion, which, too, is amorphous and of little commercial value, in the bark of the roots. This law of nature, the existence of which is proved by all experience, would have to be reversed in order to enable the Dutch to extract large supplies of quinine from the roots of a species, such asC. Pahudiana, which contains none in the upper bark.
It is much to be regretted that the scientific men in Java, instead of exerting all their skill and talent in the work of cultivatingC. CalisayaandC. lancifolia, of the value of which there is no doubt, should have filled the forests of Java with a kind which from the first was known to be of very doubtful value, was unknown in commerce, and the cultivation of which will, it is to be feared, only end in loss and disappointment.
The valuable species were found to be much more tender, and more sensitive to external unfavourable influences, than theC. Pahudiana; the latter was therefore propagated rapidly, and unwisely allowed to outstrip the other kinds in the race, and the consequence has been that it has gained an immense preponderance. Thus, so far as valuable species of chinchona-plants are concerned, the Dutch experiment in Java has been attended by a very small measure of success. After three years the Dutch gardeners only had forty plants ofvaluable species in Java, and after six years they had only increased their stock to seven thousand plants. It will presently be seen that far greater results were attained in India within eighteen months of the first introduction of the chinchona-plants.
1857.[9]December,December,At Tjibodas.1859.[112]1860.[113]1861.C. Calisaya373,2017,316?C. lancifolia34580?C. Pahudiana6096,838939,809Millions.
Yet, so great are the difficulties of this most important undertaking, that, in spite of the comparative failure in Java, the highest praise and admiration are due both to M. Hasskarl and to his successors. They have devoted great ability, no ordinary amount of scientific knowledge, and untiring perseverance to this good work; and, now that they have received plants of other really valuable species from India, there is a prospect that the chinchona cultivation in Java may eventually attain such a measure of success as will entitle Dr. Junghuhn and Dr. de Vry to the gratitude of their countrymen.[114]
INTRODUCTION OF CHINCHONA-PLANTS INTO INDIA.
PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS.
Thedistribution of valuable products of the vegetable kingdom amongst the nations of the earth—their introduction from countries where they are indigenous into distant lands with suitable soils and climates—is one of the greatest benefits that civilization has conferred upon mankind. Such measures ensure immediate material increase of comfort and profit, while their effects are more durable than the proudest monuments of engineering skill. With all their shortcomings, the Spaniards can point to vast plains covered with wheat and barley, to valleys waving with sugar-cane, and to hill-slopes enriched by vineyards and coffee-plantations, as the fruits of their conquest of South America. On the other hand, India owes to America the aloes which line the roads in Mysore, the delicious anonas, the arnotto-tree, the sumach, the capsicums so extensively used in native curries, the pimento, the papaw, the cassava which now forms the staple food of the people of Travancore, the potato, tobacco, Indian corn, pine-apples, American cotton, and lastly the chinchona: while the slopes of the Himalayas are enriched by tea-plantations, and the hills of Southern India are covered with rows of coffee-trees.
It is by thus adding to the sources of Indian wealth that England will best discharge the immense responsibility she has incurred by the conquest of India, so far as the material interests of that vast empire are concerned. Thus too will she leave behind her by far the most durable monument of thebenefits conferred by her rule. The canals and other works of the Moguls were in ruins before the English occupied the country; but the melons which the Emperor Baber, the founder of the Mogul dynasty, introduced into India, and which caused him to shed tears while thinking of his far-off mountain-home, still flourish round Delhi and Agra. Centuries after the Ganges canal has become a ruin, and the great Vehar reservoir a dry valley, the people of India will probably have cause to bless the healing effects of the fever-dispelling chinchona-trees, which will still be found on their southern mountains.
The introduction of the chinchona-plant into India was surrounded by difficulties from which all other undertakings of a similar nature have been free. When tea was introduced into the Himalayan districts, it had been a cultivated plant in China for many ages, and experienced Chinese cultivators came with it. But the chinchona had never been cultivated; since the discovery of its value in 1638 it had remained a wild forest tree; all information concerning it was solely derived from the observations of European travellers who had penetrated into the virgin forests; and the only guidance for cultivators in India is to be found in the reports of these travellers, and in the experience slowly acquired by careful and intelligent trials.[115]Great as these difficulties were, they were probably exceeded by the perils and risks of every description which must be encountered in collecting plants and seeds in South America, and conveying them in safety to India.
But the vast importance of the introduction of these plants into our Indian empire, and the inestimable benefits which would thus be conferred on the millions who inhabit thefever-haunted plains and jungles, were commensurate with the difficulties of the undertaking. The subject had occupied the attention of the Indian Government from time to time, ever since Dr. Royle in 1839 advocated the introduction of quinine-yielding trees into India, in his work on Himalayan Botany; but it was not until twenty years afterwards, in 1859, that any adequate steps were taken to effect this most desirable end, and to bring an antidote within the reach of the fever-stricken people of India, while adding a new source of wealth to the resources of that great dependency.
The proposal to introduce the chinchona-plants into India was first made officially in a despatch from the Governor-General, dated March 27th, 1852. It was referred to the late Dr. Royle, the reporter on Indian products to the East India Company, who drew up an able memorandum on the subject, dated June, 1852:—"To the Indian Government," he said, "the home supply of a drug which already costs 7000l.a year would be advantageous in an economical point of view, and invaluable as affording means of employing a drug which is indispensable in the treatment of Indian fevers. I have no hesitation in saying that, after the Chinese teas, no more important plant could be introduced into India." The only result of this application from India was that the Foreign Office was requested to obtain a supply of plants and seeds from the consuls in South America, and instructions to that effect were sent out to them in October, 1852. In the autumn of 1853 Mr. Mark wrote from Bogota that some delay would be necessary, and nothing more was heard from that quarter; Mr. Sullivan, the consul-general in Peru, replied that it would be impossible to accomplish a successful result, through the jealousy of the people; but Mr. Cope, the excellent and venerable consul-general at Quito, made a more satisfactory and substantial answer, in the shape of a box of chinchona plants and seeds from Cuenca and Loxa.They, however, did not long survive the voyage to England. Seeds ofC. Calisaya, procured through Mr. Pentland, were sent to the botanical gardens at Calcutta, but did not germinate; and in 1853 six plants of the same valuable species, contributed by the Horticultural Societies of Edinburgh and London, raised from seeds sent home by Dr. Weddell from Bolivia, were taken out to Calcutta by Mr. Fortune. They arrived in good order, but all died through gross carelessness in their removal to Darjeeling. In May, 1853, Dr. Royle drew up a second long and valuable report upon the subject, and the question was then allowed to drop for some years.
It is a curious coincidence that at the very time when Dr. Royle was writing this report I was actually exploring some of the chinchona forests of Peru. But the object of my travels was of an antiquarian and ethnological character, and I was in ignorance of the desire of the Indian Government to procure supplies of those plants, which I then only admired for their beauty.
In March, 1856, Dr. Royle made a final attempt to induce the East India Company to take efficient steps to procure supplies of chinchona plants and seeds from South America; and proposed to employ Dr. Jamieson, the able Professor of Botany in the University of Quito, for this purpose. The lamented death of that eminent botanist Dr. Royle, to whom India owes so much, again put an end to all discussion of the subject for some time; but in 1859 energetic measures were set on foot, which at length effected the desired object fully and completely. Dr. Royle is well known as the author of works on Himalayan botany, on the cotton cultivation and on the fibres of India, and of a 'Materia Medica' containing a valuable article on the chinchona genus, which he caused to be printed separately for circulation in India. For several years he took the warmest interest in the proposed measures for the introduction of chinchona-plants into India, and usedevery influence at his command to effect this most important object. But he was not destined to see the final achievement of a design which he seems to have had so much at heart.
In 1859 my services were accepted to superintend the collection of chinchona plants and seeds in South America, and their introduction into India; and I was authorised by Lord Stanley, then Secretary of State for India, to make such arrangements as should best ensure the complete success of an enterprise, the results of which were expected to add materially to the resources of our Indian Empire. The urgent necessity of this measure had become more apparent since Dr. Royle's time. Then the Government of India expended 7000l.a year upon quinine; but in 1857 the expenditure had risen to 12,000l., and continued to increase during the following years.[116]
I at once determined to take measures for obtaining plants and seeds of all the valuable species of chinchonæ described in a former chapter; to arrange so that, if possible, they should be collected simultaneously in the different regions separated by many hundreds of miles from each other; and that, warned by the fatal error of the Dutch in Java, no species should be introduced into India which did not possess bark of well-established commercial value. In one of his reports Dr. Royle had most truly said that "the greater the number of species obtained, as well as the greater the extent of country over which the seeds are collected, the greater is the probability of finding soils and climates in India for their successfulculture." It was thus necessary to employ competent persons to collect in New Granada, Ecuador, the Huanuco forests of Northern Peru, and Caravaya or Bolivia at the same time. I considered that it was essential that the proceedings should be completed during the first year if possible, in order to give as short a time as was practicable for the awakening of that narrow-minded jealousy in the people of the South American Republics, which I was well aware would sooner or later be aroused. It was also my duty to get the work done economically, and there could be no doubt that the employment of several agents for a few months would cost less than the mission of a single traveller, who would have to make his way over thousands of miles, for three or four years. Time also was an object with regard to the establishment of plantations in India.
The Secretary of State for India sanctioned all the details of my plan, with the exception of the expedition to New Granada,[117]and the provision of a steamer to convey the plants direct across the Pacific to India. But it was no easy matter to find agents possessed of the necessary qualifications for the work. A personal acquaintance with the chinchona forests, a knowledge of the country, of the people, and of the languages, were essential, as well as of the particular species of chinchona-trees growing in each region; and, as the service was to be performed without delay, no time could be spared for acquiring any of these qualifications.
For the chinchona forests in Ecuador I was so fortunate as to secure the services of Mr. Spruce, an excellent botanist and most intrepid explorer, who had been engaged for several years in the examination of the wilds of South America, andwho was actually on the spot. Of his qualifications there could be no doubt, but I could scarcely have ventured to hope that the service which he undertook to perform would have been done so completely and so thoroughly, and would have been crowned with such undoubted success. It is perhaps invidious to make distinctions, where all have worked so zealously; but it is due to Mr. Spruce to say that by far the largest share of credit is due to him, and that his name must take the most prominent place in connection with the introduction of these precious plants into India. The region assigned to him was the most important, as it yielded the "red-bark" tree (C. succirubra), containing a larger percentage of febrifugal alkaloids than any other species; and I felt more sanguine of success in this quarter than in any other, because the country of the "red bark" was more accessible than any of the others, the forests being on the western slopes of the Andes, navigable rivers flowing through them to the Pacific Ocean, and there being, therefore, no necessity of conveying the plants over the snowy wilds of the cordilleras. I also requested Mr. Spruce to make an arrangement for procuring seeds of the valuable species from the forests of Loxa.
For the forests of the Peruvian province of Huanuco I procured the services of Mr. Pritchett, a gentleman who had passed some years in South America, and who was well acquainted with that particular region. He was to collect plants and seeds of the species yielding grey bark.
I myself undertook to explore the forests either of Caravaya or Bolivia, and to collect theC. Calisayaand other important species of that more distant region. This part of the enterprise was surrounded by peculiar difficulties, arising from the jealousy of the people, habitual with the Bolivians, and recently excited in the minds of the Peruvians of Caravaya by the proceedings of M. Hasskarl, the Dutch agent;while the forests are far more inaccessible, and the journey to the coast is longer and more formidable.
It was the opinion of Sir William Hooker, who gave me the advantage of his valuable advice, that a good practical working gardener should accompany both Mr. Spruce and myself, and he considered this an imperative requirement, in order that they might attend to the packing of the plants in the forests, their establishment in Wardian cases, and have charge of them during the voyage to India. I appointed Mr. Cross, at his recommendation, to act under the orders of Mr. Spruce; and Mr. Weir, who was recommended to me by Mr. Veitch, accompanied me to the chinchona forests of Caravaya.
In employing several agents in districts widely removed from each other, my chief object was to effect the introduction of as many valuable species as possible; but I also reflected on the extreme difficulty of the undertaking, and the overwhelming chances against success which confronted a single-handed attempt. In such wild unfrequented regions all is uncertainty. Along the dizzy paths of the Andes a single false step may dash the fairest hopes, disappoint the most careful calculations. Add to these dangers the probability of obstacles raised by the natives, and it will at once be seen that three independent expeditions materially increased the chances of ultimate success.
By the end of 1859 I had completed all the preliminary arrangements; and there was at length a prospect of securing the successful introduction into India of a plant the inestimable value of which had been felt, and the importance of its cultivation discussed, for twenty years. On December 17th, 1859, we sailed from England, and, crossing the isthmus of Panama, arrived in Lima, the capital of Peru, on January 26th, 1860. Thirty Wardian cases for the plants had been sent out round Cape Horn, and I forwarded fifteento Guayaquil for Mr. Spruce's collection, and fifteen to the port of Islay in Southern Peru, to await my return from the chinchona forests. After a month's residence in Lima we embarked on board one of the mail-steamers for the southward, and on the 2nd of March, 1860, we landed at Islay, which is more conveniently situated than any other port for a journey to the chinchona forests of Southern Peru or Bolivia.
ISLAY AND AREQUIPA.
Theport of Islay is the commercial outlet of the departments of Arequipa, Cuzco, and Puno, in Southern Peru; and thus a small town, dating from about 1830,[118]has risen up on the rocky barren coast, surrounded by a sandy desert, and shut in from the interior by a range of sterile mountains. The coast consists of inaccessible cliffs, perforated with deep caves by the incessant surge of the ocean, with several rocky islets off the shore. The anchorage[119]is formed by a slight indentation of the coast, and the landing is effected at a small iron jetty clamped to the rocks, under which the swell breaks and chafes with a ceaseless roar. A very steep path leads up the cliff to a custom-house, forming one side of the littleplaza, which is constantly filled with droves of mules from the interior. A single street leading up from the plaza, with a few lanes off it, forms the town of Islay; and a brief statement of the trade of this port will give an idea of the importance of the country to which it forms an outlet.
The principal articles of export are alpaca and sheep's wool, vicuña wool, copper, bark, and specie; the total valuein 1859 being 336,842l.,[120]and the value of the imports, consisting chiefly of European goods, is about equal to that of the exports.
The country round Islay is as dreary and arid a waste as the eye could rest on; yet from July to October, when there is the greatest amount of moisture on the coast, the otherwise barren mountains, which rise up abruptly from the desert, at a distance of about three miles from the sea, are green and carpeted with flowers, while the plain nearer Islay is also dotted over with vegetation. This maritime range is called the "Lomas." In consequence of the unusual quantity of rain which fell in the early part of 1860, the Lomas had broken out in renewed freshness in March. The country, close to Islay, was covered with a scattered growth of Compositæ, wild tobacco, Nympha, Oxalis, Salvia, an Umbellifer with a large white flower, Verbena, Heliotrope, a purple Solanum, an Amaranth, and other flowers. It is broken up into abrupt ravines; and, near the foot of the mountains, some of them contain deposits of soil washed down by little streams which flow during the wet season, sufficient to sustain small groves of fig and olive trees, the abodes of numerous flocks of doves. Such is the case in the ravines called Catarindo, Yutu, and Matarani, from the latter of which the water is led in pipes to supply the town of Islay. The guardian of this water-supply is an Irishman, generally known as Juan de la Pila (John of the fountain), an active obliging man, who also follows the tradesof carpenter, cooper, and blacksmith; and to whom we were indebted for much valuable assistance in procuring soil for the Wardian cases, and in giving us the use of his yard.
The soil in the richest parts of these ravines, which had been washed down from the higher slopes of the Lomas, is several feet deep, and appeared sufficiently good to be used for the Wardian cases, in the event of its being found impossible to obtain soil from any more promising locality; and the great number of wild flowers which were growing in it convinced me that it could not contain anything very pernicious.[121]
The formation consists of granite, with veins of very pure quartz; but the plains are covered with large patches of fine dust, consisting chiefly of silica, containing potash and mica, with small quantities of the débris of the rocks associated with the soil, which Admiral FitzRoy suggests may have been the ashes ejected, at some remote period, from the volcano of Arequipa. Near the sea-shore, and about half a mile south-east of Islay, there is a very curious result of the constant action of the weaves, in two immense cavities hollowed out of the rock, called theTinajones(jars). They are circular holes about thirty yards across, and of great depth, separated from the sea by a wall of cliffs not more than fouryards wide, the lower part of which is undermined, and forms a passage by which the waves rush into the greattinajon, or bowl, with a mighty roar; and, dashing themselves against the rocky sides, throw back clouds of white spray. The only vegetation near the coast consists of lowly littleMesembryanthema, scattered about at long intervals, and an occasional stonecrop (Sedum).
During our stay at Islay we enjoyed the hospitality of Mr. Wilthew, H.B.M. Consul, and his wife, to whom we were indebted for much thoughtful kindness. The rest of the inhabitants consist of Peruvian officials, agents of commercial houses in Arequipa, and a few shopkeepers and artisans, besides the muleteers and other birds of passage, and the porters and boatmen of mixed Indian and negro extraction. The supplies for the market come almost entirely from the rich valley of Tambo, some leagues down the coast.
On March 6th, our mules and horses having arrived, we started for Arequipa in the morning, a distance of ninety miles, and, crossing the country near Islay, entered a gorge in the mountains, which winds up to the great desert above, at the commencement of which there is a grove of dusty olive-trees. This dismal ravine, with arid scarped mountains rising up on either side, here and there a tall gaunt cactus, and everywhere a dense cloud of white dust, leads up to a little post-house built of canes, called the "Tambo de Guerreros," eighteen miles from Islay.
Guerreros is at the head of the gorge leading down to Islay; and, from a rising ground a little beyond the tambo,[122]the great desert of Arequipa opens upon the view, bounded by a range of mountains which are crowned by the snowy peak of the volcano. At this point there is a wooden cross which marks the grave of a poor soldier belonging to thefugitive army of Salaverry, in 1836, who, worn out with fatigue and thirst, had here sunk down to die, and had been lightly covered over with sand. The flesh was in perfect preservation. We then entered the great desert of Arequipa, extending to the horizon on the right and left, and ending in front at the foot of the rocky range of mountains separating the sandy waste from the fertile campiña of Arequipa. The desert consists of hard ground, without a blade of vegetation, affording good riding; but it is covered at short intervals with mounds of the finest white sand, from twenty to thirty feet high, all in the shape of a half-moon, with their horns pointing north-west, and thus denoting the prevailing wind. They are calledMedanos. TheseMedanosshift their positions, and the breeze, whirling the sand in eddies on their summits, often causes a singing noise in the early dawn. Frequently they form athwart the road, which has to deviate in a half-circle, and rejoin the old track on the other side; but they all resemble each other exactly, and afford no landmark to the lost or benighted traveller.
In the centre of the desert is the post-house or tambo of La Joya, twenty miles from Guerreros, kept by an Englishman, whose homely name of Jimmy Eyres has been converted into the more grandiloquent and euphonious Spanish one of Don Santiago Casimiro de los Ayres. Water and fodder for the beasts are brought from a great distance, and their price is of course proportionately high; but, considering its position in the midst of a desert and many leagues from all supplies, the little tambo, consisting of several rooms of deal planking roughly knocked together, was very comfortable.
Starting at four on a bright starlight morning, the perfect stillness and the wild grandeur of the boundless desert were very impressive, while there was a delicious freshness in the cool air. As the sun rose behind the mighty cordilleraswhich bounded the view, the whiteness of their snowy peaks became quite dazzling. Immediately in front was the perfect cone of the volcano of Arequipa; to the right the glorious peaks of Charcani and Chuquibamba; to the left the remarkable range of Pichupichu. It is probable that in no part of the world is so sublime a view of mountain peaks to be found as is presented at early dawn from this desert. But its sublimity is similar to that which is witnessed in a sunrise at sea; it fills the mind with an idea of vastness and grandeur, while it wants all the details which usually accompany and form no small part of the enjoyment derived from ordinary mountain scenery. Yet here, while gazing on those magnificent peaks, with no middle distance and no foreground, save the flat sea-like wilderness, we felt that any addition would have marred the simple glories of this unparalleled view. The desert is between 4000 and 5000 feet above the sea, and the cordillera peaks are, some more, some a little less, than 20,000 feet in height; so that, within a distance of under forty miles, we beheld mountains rising upwards of 16,000 feet from the point on which we stood: of no other mountains in the world could such a view be obtained. In this land of the Incas Nature has done her work on a truly gigantic scale.
The desert, from Guerreros to the entrance to the gorge leading through the rocky hills which divide it from the plain of Arequipa, is upwards of forty miles across, while its length from the transverse valley of Tambo to that of Vitor must be about sixty. During the greater part of the day we were threading our way through arid mountain gorges, and up and down zigzag rocky paths strewn with the bones and carcasses of mules, under a scorching sun. A little pale purpleNemophila, a smallCrucifer, and the weirdCacti, the appropriate inhabitants of the desert, are the only plants of this cheerless region; and a few obscene gallinazos, floating lazily in the upper air, with their keen-piercing eyes watching for some luckless mule to sink under its burden, were the sole representatives of animal life.
AREQUIPA.Page 75.
AREQUIPA.Page 75.
At length our eyes were gladdened by the sight of the green vale of Tiavaya, in the campiña of Arequipa. The rows of tall willows, the bright green fields of lucerne, and white farm-houses, were a blessed relief after the monotonous glare of barren rocks and sand; but it was not until late at night, and after a ride of more than fifty miles, that we reached our hospitable lodging in the city of Arequipa.
Arequipa, the second city in Peru, is built on the banks of the rapid river Chile, and at the foot of the great volcano, called Misti, which rises up in a perfect cone to the height of 17,934 feet, its upper half covered with snow. Arequipa itself is 7427 feet above the sea, so that the mountains ascend in one unbroken sweep upwards of 10,500 feet. The climate, during my stay from March 11th to March 22nd, was as follows:—
Mean temperature64⅓Mean minimum at night60½Highest observed67Lowest58Range9
The town is built of a white stone of volcanic origin, being a trachytic tuffa containing pumice and lava, dug out of quarries at the foot of the volcano. The houses are usually of one story, built solidly and substantially, with vaulted stone ceilings, the better to resist the shocks of the frequent earthquakes. Like almost all Spanish American cities, the streets are straight and at right angles to each other, with anazequiaflowing down the centre. Wheeled vehicles of any description are unknown, and the traffic consists of horses, droves of mules, donkeys laden with lucerne, and flocks of llamas. The principal streets all lead to the great square, which forms abusy and most interesting scene in the morning, the time for marketing. It is then filled with gaily-dressed Indian women, some sitting under shades, with their goods spread out on the ground before them, and others, in constant movement, threading their way amongst the sellers. Their dresses are of baize, manufactured at Halifax,[123]of the gayest colours—consisting of a skirt and mantle of the two most brilliant colours they can find, red and blue, green and crimson, or purple and orange. The effect of these bright-coloured groups, in constant motion, as they move about buying fruit or vegetables, potatoes, earth-nuts, medicinal drugs, corn, articles of dress, and other necessaries, is very pleasing. The background is formed by the handsome new cathedral of whitest stone, behind which the noble volcano, and the peaks of Charcani (18,558 feet above the sea) dazzle the eyes by the brilliancy of their snowy covering.
The campiña of Arequipa, which surrounds the city, is about five miles broad from the foot of the cordillera to the arid range of hills which separates it from the wilderness of the coast; and about ten or twelve miles long, being bounded at each end by a sandy desert. It is watered by the river Chile,[124]coming from a chasm in the cordillera, on the north-west side of the volcano, and by the streams called Posterio and Savandia, which flow from the Pichu-pichu mountains to the eastward of the volcano. These several streams unite on leaving the campiña, and finally fall into the river of Quilca. The campiña contains, besides the city of Arequipa, a number of small villages, and numerous farm-houses. In March the view from the hills above the city is most beautiful. The brilliant green of the campiña, with its fields of maize and alfalfa, its rows of tall willows, and orchards of fruit-trees, isdotted with houses and villages, while it forms an emerald setting to the white city. Looking from the other side of Arequipa, the view, though not so beautiful, is more imposing: the snow-capped volcano rearing its majestic head above the stunted towers of the town. There is a great deal of maize grown in the valley, and guano is extensively used as manure; but the wealth of the campiña is chiefly derived from its mules, which monopolize the carrying-trade from the coast to Arequipa, and from Arequipa to the interior. A quantity of lucerne oralfalfais raised for their sustenance, and thearrierosor muleteers are a wealthy class of men, generally possessing achacraor farm of their own, besides considerable sums in ready money. They are, as a rule, good-looking, well-grown men, with fresh complexions, and little mixed blood, which is also made evident by the comparatively fair complexions of their wives and daughters.
AREQUIPA CATHEDRAL.From a Photograph. Page 76.
AREQUIPA CATHEDRAL.From a Photograph. Page 76.
The families of the upper classes of Arequipa usually own estates in the neighbouring warm valleys of the coast, such as Vitor, Tambo, Siguas, Majes, and Camana, where the rich vineyards yield them a profitable return by the sale of aguardiente. Their houses in the city are built round apatioor courtyard, on which the principal rooms open. Their sons are frequently the leaders of the turbulentCholosin revolt, and follow the professions ofabogados, lawyers or politicians, traders, andhaciendadosor farmers, while the more ambitious adopt a military life, thecarrera de armas. The ladies are considered the most beautiful and intelligent in Peru, and, at Lima, the most attractive women are usually Arequipeñas. Perhaps the majority have never moved beyond the campiña, and adjacent warm valleys, and many have never seen the sea. Yet they are sprightly and agreeable in society, full of intelligent curiosity, and almost invariably excellent musicians. They frequently sing the plaintivedespedidas, and other sonnets of their native poet Melgar, whose love for afair townswoman was unrequited, and whose melancholy fate has surrounded his name with a halo of romance. He was barbarously shot, after having been taken prisoner by the Spaniards, at the battle of Umachiri in 1815, the first attempt which the Peruvians made for their independence.
During the winter months the wealthier families remove to villages in the campiña, either to Tingo, Tiavaya, or Savandia, taking furniture with them. At the commencement of the season droves of mules leave the city laden with beds, chairs, and tables, to render the country houses habitable. Here the Arequipeños enjoy the delights of the country and of bathing in large swimming-baths faced with masonry, and planted round with rows of tall willows. The rides in the country which surrounds these villages are exceedingly pretty. The trees consist chiefly of tall willows and of theSchinus mollewith its bunches of red berries, while bushes of fragrant whiteDaturasand of the beautifulBignonia fulvafill the hedges, and the streams are bordered by masses ofNasturtiums. The fields either bear crops of vivid green alfalfa, or tall Indian corn, six to eight feet high, over which theTropæolum canariensiscreeps in golden masses, and at whose feet the bright bluelupins, and aSolanumwith rich purple flowers, grow as weeds. From many points of view the rapid waters of the river Chile complete the picture, while far away the snowy peaks of Chuquibamba, Charcani, and the volcano glisten in the beams of the sun. Above Arequipa the river flows through the valley of Chilinos, the steep sides of which are lined withandeneria, or terraced maize-gardens, with here and there a picturesque group of the stone huts of the Indians, often completely hidden by the dark green leaves and golden flowers of the gourds which cover them. The courtyards of the houses are frequently ornamented with a beautiful passion-flower, which creeps over the trellised verandahs, and is covered with flowers. It isa species ofTacsonia, called by the nativestumbo. The flower has a very long tube, and is of a deep rich rose-colour: and a deliciousfresco, or sherbet, is made of the egg-shaped fruit.
In addition to the baths of pure spring-water at Tingo and Savandia, the medicinal baths of Yura are a great resort during the winter months. Yura is thirty miles to the north-west, and is situated, like Arequipa, just under the range of the cordilleras. The road leads over very broken ground, where the rugged spurs from the Andes project out into the desert. In March the weary arid wilderness was enlivened by wild flowers, bushes of yellow and purpleSolanums, bright orangeCompositæ, and, in one place, a carpet of little purple dwarf iris. The baths are in a green ravine, with tall willow-trees and maize-fields, watered by a little rivulet. In this narrow glen, bounded on one side by sandstone mountains, which here form the base of the volcano, and on the other by a ridge of trachyte, there are two places where thermal waters bubble out of the rocks, one being ferruginous and the other sulphurous. At the sulphurous baths there are some solid stone buildings, intended as lodgings for the bathers, with heavy arcades, and long vaulted rooms with no windows, and without furniture, for, as at Tingo and Savandia, all visitors bring their beds, tables, chairs, crockery, and cooking utensils with them. In the bath-room there are four square basins, faced with stone, of different temperatures, and called theVejeto(87° Fahr.), theDesague(88°), theSepultura(89°), and theTigre(90°). They are said to cure dysentery, rheumatism, and cutaneous diseases. The rivulet flows down the glen and joins the river of Yura near a village called Calera, where most of the soap is manufactured which is consumed in Arequipa. Great quantities of carbonate of soda are collected from the sandstone rock, which gives employment to the people of the village. The land is dividedintotopos(5000 square yards), each valued at a thousand dollars, and every six weeks a harvest ofsalitre(carbonate of soda) is reaped. From Calera there is a fine view of the green valley of Yura, and of a grand range of porphyritic mountains.
The population of the campiña and town of Arequipa is reckoned at about 50,000.[125]The place was first colonized by the Inca Mayta, who established a body ofmitimaesor colonists there, from the village of Cavanilla, near Puno, and ordained that they should remain and settle there. Hence the name "Ari quepay," "Yes! remain:" or more probably it is derived from the words "Aric quepa," "Behind the sharp peak." Thesemitimaeswere the ancestors of the present Indians, orCholosas they are called, and were established in villages in the campiña, occupied in the cultivation of maize; but the city is purely Spanish, and was founded by Pizarro in 1540, at which time the stone-quarries first began to be worked.
TheCholosor Indians of Arequipa have long been notorious for their turbulence, and for the eagerness with which they join any attempt at revolution, apparently from mere love of excitement. They are addicted to the use ofchicha—a fermented liquor made from Indian corn—to such an extent that it is said that nearly all the maize which is raised in the campiña is used in brewing this liquor; under the influence of which the Cholos have established the fame of Arequipa as the grand focus of Peruvian revolutions. But this habit of drinking to excess has rendered the Cholos, though capable of fighting desperately behind walls, quite worthless as soldiers in a campaign; and their habit of body becomes so bad that a slight wound is frequently fatal.
Though the received idea in Europe, that Peru is constantly in a state of civil war, is erroneous in fact, as well as unjust,[126]yet it is true that the period of tranquillity which had lasted from 1844 to 1854 was broken in the latter year by the successful revolution of General Castilla—the result of the discontent caused by the dishonest financial measures and the embezzlements of his predecessor; and two years afterwards the Cholos of Arequipa commenced a rebellion against Castilla. A brief account of the siege of that city, which followed, will give a good idea of the endurance and fighting qualities of the Cholos.
In October 1856 two young men of good family, named Gamio and Masias, collected a handful of Cholos, and sent a message to the Prefect Canseco, telling him that he must either evacuate the city with his troops, or lay down his arms. The prefect marched out, and left Arequipa in the hands of the insurgents, who proclaimed the exiled General Vivanco President of Peru, and appointed Don José Antonio Berenguel prefect of the town; and most of the soldierswho had marched out with Canseco returned on the following day to join the rebels. Vivanco was an exile in Chile, but, on receiving the news, he started for Islay by the English mail steamer, and reached Arequipa in December; while General San Roman, who had been sent from Lima to propose terms of accommodation with the rebels, was dismissed, and retired into the interior to collect forces for the support of Castilla's government.
While the Cholos of Arequipa were maturing their rebellion, a fortunate event placed the Peruvian navy at the disposal of Vivanco. Their largest frigate, the 'Apurimac,' was lying off Arica, and, while her captain, a rough old Chilian seaman named Salcedo, was on shore, the crew, led by Lizardo Montero, one of her lieutenants, a young man and native of Piura, mutinied, declared for Vivanco, and steamed away, leaving Salcedo storming on the beach. The 'Apurimac' went at once to Islay, where Montero captured the port, and where he was joined by two smaller steamers, the 'Loa' and 'Tumbez.'
Vivanco, meanwhile, had proclaimed himself "Regenerator" of Peru, and offered his services as a lawgiver and restorer of prosperity to his country, which were not accepted or appreciated, as none of the other great towns followed the example of Arequipa. Leaving a ministry consisting of young inexperienced lawyers, who had nothing to lose and all to gain, in charge of affairs at Arequipa, he embarked on board the 'Apurimac,' in the end of December, 1856, and sailed for Callao, but did not venture to disembark. He then went on board the 'Loa,' leaving the 'Apurimac' to watch Callao, and proceeded to Truxillo; while the 'Apurimac' went down to the Chincha Islands, and began shipping off the guano to any one who would buy it, thus leaving the port of Callao open.
General Castilla is an old Indian, possessed of great military talent and extraordinary energy and intrepidity; while Vivanco is a native of Lima, of pure Spanish descent, indolent, dilatory, and without personal courage; but eloquent and persuasive, and possessed of qualities which have surrounded him with numerous warm partisans and personal friends. Between such men the issue could not be doubtful.
The veteran Castilla, as soon as the 'Apurimac' had sailed for the Chincha Islands, formed the daring plan of attacking his enemy in the north; and, in spite of the Navy, which had declared against him, he bought an old steamer, the 'Santiago,' belonging to the English Steam Navigation Company, and boldly steamed away in search of the Regenerator. On hearing of his approach, Vivanco was seized with a panic, and, evacuating the places he had occupied, retreated to his ships. He now thought that, in the absence of Castilla, he might succeed in an attempt on the capital, and, collecting all his vessels, he retraced his steps southward, and arrived in Callao bay on April 22nd, 1857. A night attack was then made on the fort, but, after some hard street fighting, Vivanco's party were obliged to retire to their ships; and, his expedition having proved a complete failure, the Regenerator returned to Islay, and proceeded at once to Arequipa.
While Vivanco was absent in the north, General San Roman had collected a considerable force in the interior, with which he marched towards Arequipa. The warlike Cholos came out to meet him, and a skirmish followed, which they call the battle of Yumina. It consisted of a considerable waste of powder, the two parties firing at each other, at very long ranges, across a ravine; and in the afternoon the Cholos returned in triumph to Arequipa. Having missed Vivanco in the north, old Don Ramon Castilla steamed away to Arica in the same old 'Santiago,' safely passing the rebellious fleet at Islay, collected a force at Tacna, and, marching by land, arrived in the campiña of Arequipa in the end of July; soonafterwards establishing his head-quarters at the village of Sachaca, some miles below the city, on the banks of the river Chile. A detachment occupied Tiavaya, to cut off Vivanco's communication with Islay.
The people of Arequipa were now hard at work to place the city in a proper state of defence; barricades were erected in the most important streets, and day and night the Cholos were under arms. But, supplies having now entirely ceased from the custom-house at Islay, Vivanco found himself in great difficulties; for people, having little faith in the success of his revolution, were unwilling to advance money in exchange for hisvalesor promissory notes, even at a discount of fifty per cent. The needy Regenerator then resorted to more violent methods of raising money, and, breaking open several of the principal shops, began to sell their contents to the highest bidder.
Castilla made constant sham attacks upon the town, which kept the inhabitants in a continual state of alarm; but all his supplies were derived from Arica, by way of Tacna, as the port of Islay remained in the hands of Vivanco's party. This was his weak point; and when the 'Apurimac' arrived off Arica, and her commander Montero, after a sharp street fight, got possession of that port in February, 1858, Castilla found himself in a position of great difficulty. His supplies were entirely cut off, and it became necessary for him to assault Arequipa at all hazards. Accordingly he moved from his quarters at Sachaca and Tiavaya, marched round the south side of the city, and early in the morning of March 5th, 1858, commenced an attack on the eastern suburbs. His troops first stormed the church of San Antonio, and then advanced to the attack of San Pedro, which had also been occupied by the besieged. Here the Cholos held their ground for four hours, from eight to twelveA.M., in spite of the desperate attacks of Castilla's best troops, and the well-directed fire ofhis artillery. At length, overpowered by numbers, they were forced to retire, disputing every inch of the ground. They rallied at the convent of Santa Rosa, and obstinately defended the position for several hours, until night closed in upon the combatants. Next morning, being the 7th of March, some further resistance was made, but the troops of Castilla finally stormed the barricades, and drove everything before them. Vivanco escaped in the disguise of a friar to Islay, and thence to Chile, while his officers looked after themselves, leaving the gallant defenders of Arequipa to their fate. Tacna and Arica at once returned to their allegiance, and the 'Apurimac' was given up to Castilla's ministers at Lima by the mutinous Montero.
The Cholos of Arequipa thus defended their position, with great bravery and resolution, against Castilla's disciplined army for upwards of eight months; and during the assault, which lasted for two days, their desperate valour was as remarkable as their extraordinary endurance, for, such was the negligence of Vivanco and his officers, that they were kept without refreshment or even water during the many hours in which they sustained a deadly and unequal struggle against Castilla's troops. It should also be recorded to their credit, that, although the town was on several occasions entirely in their hands, there was no instance of any act of pillage or excess being committed by them; and, when all authority was withdrawn, they showed no disposition to take advantage of their power, but displayed a regard for order which would not be found among the lower orders of most other countries during periods of great excitement.
There is a very striking difference, however, between the Cholos of Arequipa and the Inca Indians of the interior, who appear in the streets with their llamas laden with silky vicuña-wool: the former a turbulent, excitable race, who will fight desperately behind walls, but who are without staminaand quite unable to endure fatigue; the latter a patient, long-suffering people, capable of extraordinary endurance, and, as soldiers, in the habit of marching distances which appear incredible to those whose experience is confined to the movements of European troops. There is an evident mixture of Spanish blood in the people who inhabit Arequipa and its campiña, while the Indians of the interior are for the most part of pure descent.
The road over the cordilleras to Cuzco and Puno leaves Arequipa by the southern suburb, and, after a few miles, ascends a rocky ridge to the more elevated valley of Chihuata or Cangallo (9676 feet above the sea[127]), at the foot of the southern spur of the volcano. A wretched stone hut with a mud floor is here the only shelter for the traveller. At one end a fire of sticks, where an old hag acted as cook, filled the interior with smoke, and at the other each wayfarer, as he arrived, made a shakedown of blankets and ponchos, sipped his chocolate, and, after a short conversation, composed himself for the night. The fire gradually smouldered and went out, and the old woman, with a brood of children, made a heap at the further corner.
At early dawn of the 23rd of March we were all in motion, and our companion of the previous night, a Spaniard with a largetropaof mules laden with aguardiente, was busily preparing for a start. As the sun rose, the dazzling white of the snowy peaks of Pichu-pichu and the volcano, with fleecy clouds above their summits, gave a glorious effect. The rest of the sky was blue, gradually clouding over as the morning advanced; and the valley was covered with alfalfa-fields of the richest green, with the pretty little village of Cachimarca perched on a rounded hill to the southward. The flowering shrubs by the roadside are the same as in the campiña of Arequipa,except that a small yellow Calceolaria is more abundant. The morning air was fresh and bracing as we mounted our mules and faced the long zigzag path up the "alto de los huesos," the southern spur of the volcano, so called from the bones of thousands of mules which are met at every turn. This ascent conducts the traveller from the temperate valley of Cangallo to the bleak and chilling plains of the upper cordillera.